On a patch of grass in a village in the Gildipasi area in Madang Province, Papua New Guinea (PNG), stands a row of eight palm-like shrubs with green, red and purple foliage. They are known as tanget in the local language. Following the ritual invocation of ancestral and nature spirits, these shrubs were planted by representatives of clans from four Gildipasi villages to seal the renewal of their agreement to protect their remaining intact forest. ‘Now the bulldozers and chainsaws are gone. And the wildlife has returned. Wallabies, cassowaries and lizards are back in the forest, and eels, prawns and crabs are in the rivers again’, says John Natu, a member of the community.

Year: 2015

From collection: State of the Rainforest

Cartographer: GRID-Arendal